Frustrated Annan quits as Syria peace envoy

Reuters: Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is quitting as international peace envoy for Syria, frustrated by “finger-pointing” at the United Nations while the armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad becomes increasingly bloody.

As battles raged on Thursday in Syria’s second city, Aleppo, between rebel fighters and government forces using war planes and artillery, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced in New York that Annan had said he would go at the end of the month.

“Kofi Annan deserves our profound admiration for the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to this most difficult and potentially thankless of assignments,” Ban said. Talks were under way to find a successor.